13th Dance Days Chania
International contemporary dance festival | July 22nd - August 2nd
Ilias Chatzigeorgiou , «A BOUNCE 4 MEN» (Greece)
July 30th| 21:30 | "Mikis Theodorakis" theatre
INTRO
Four men - young, strong, and handsome, violent, immature, and foolish, trapped inside the identities they were handed - set out on a pulsing course that leads them into uncharted waters. From the DJ decks, a fifth man lays the beat, and is also swayed by the pulse set by the other four.
A BOUNCE
Two beats in quick succession are all it takes to whip us up. And two slow beats are enough to bring us down.
A dropping pulse signifies death and silence, emptiness and nothingness. A rising pulse means adrenaline, stress, action, life, love, fear, and dread.
A bounce is a kind of pulse. A bounce is also a kind of pain that goes and comes back stronger, reminding you of the danger and spurring you into action - urging you to do something.
4 MEN
Beyond the stereotypes of male-dominated hip hop culture - which demands proof of your strength, dominance, and power - four men battle to find their own pulse, to be led into something deeper, more essential, more primal. Sometimes through humor and self-deprecation, other times through brutality, violence, and fear.
A bounce will be the medicine for combatting their masculine hang-ups, their misogyny, their fears when it comes to anything different, to sex, to the Other. This quadrumvirate take a stand against that man who sees sexuality as a source of punishment, shame, and guilt, and violence as a way out of any confrontation, be it within his own self or with others, and which sadly nestles, or has nestled in the past inside the minds of many - and not just inside the men.
CHOREOGRAPHER'S NOTE
Everything around us follows a pulse. We do too. A pulse cannot be controlled, unless you are able to elicit a response. Dancers and musicians create their own pulses, enter into them, and live inside them. They often take others in with them. And that's when a pulse becomes collective, resonating with connotations given to it by those sharing in it. This is how a vibration you've created acquires meaning. Acquires meaning and leaves its mark - on the moment, and even on history itself.
Ten handclaps can effectuate great change in space and time and stillness, in the bravery of the individual and the power of the many.
They can be the start of a successful pulse, one that can affect everyone.
The success of a pulse depends on how catchy it is, something determined by the moment, by its intensity and persistence, and by the need it has to be relayed. Which is to say, by its truth. And so its greatest significance - its absolute achievement - comes when it ceases to beat. At the moment when it stops. It is at this precise point that the reason for its initiation and its duration is made complete.
Performers: Periklis Petrakis (VIRTUOZO), Dimitris Karageorgos (D WAVE), Kostas Phoenix, Haris Chatziandreou (HARIBO), Alexis Falantas
Choreography: Ilias Chatzigeorgiou
Music: Alexis Falantas
Lighting Design: Nikos Vlasopoulos
Set & Costumes Design: Ilias Chatzigeorgiou
Line Production: GOODHEART PRODUCTIONS
Touring Technical Manager: Antonis Kokkoris (Onassis STEGI)
Tours Coordinator: Christina Liata (Onassis STEGI)
Produced by Onassis STEGI and first presented as part of Onassis New Choreographers Festival 9.
The presentation at DANCE DAYS CHANIA is supported by Onassis STEGI's "Outwards Turn Program".
TRAILER: https://vimeo.com/716290306/f04efdfe9c
Tickets: 12€ regular - 9€ student, unemployed
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